Nipigon River Bridge
2013-2016 | Nipigon, Thunder Bay, Ontario
Completed in 2016, the new cable stayed four-lane Nipigon River Bridge replaced a two-lane steel deck truss bridge which had been built in 1974. The bridge is part of the Trans-Canada Highway and carries traffic over the Nipigon River in northwestern Ontario.
The bridge, owned by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, had a capital value of $106M and was replaced as part of a regional initiative to widen the highway from two lanes to four. The new bridge was built in two phases to maintain the flow of highway traffic during construction.
McElhanney was a subconsultant on this project. Our scope included:
- Time-dependent construction staging analysis, including two phases of construction
- Development of cambers for the superstructure longitudinal girders and towers
- Preparation of the construction manual and geometry control manual
- Design and detailing of temporary works and falsework
- Field reviews and site support
- Independent review of the existing bridge demolition through de-launching
The bridge has span lengths of 113m and 139m and the superstructure is a composite steel girder system consisting of three longitudinal girders supported by three planes of cables. The tower consists of three independent legs erected with precast concrete segments using a ground-based crane.
